The actor is the prism through which society can re-imagine itself. The role of representation and storytelling is a very heavy responsibility. The actor must be aware and actively interested in the story and depiction and be willing to tell everyone’s story.
It is impossible for me to separate my politics from my acting. I simply will never do it and I find morally reprehensible that anyone ever would. I don’t care how ‘annoying’ that makes me, I don’t care that Fox News will call me a left wing lunatic, and that I potentially will be alienating part of my audience. Frankly, I don’t care because if they feel alienated by the stories I plan to tell, then they deserve it. Actors have an equal right to voice their opinions as every other tax paying citizen in the country. As an actor, I do not view my craft as a form of escapism. I spit on the notion that my only contribution to our society is to ‘entertain’ or be just an object for the male gaze. Certainly, I want people to enjoy my work but I refuse to buy in to stories or images I believe to be wretched or inaccurate depictions. I want my audience to be steamrolled with stories they need to hear and characters they need to meet.
By politics I'm inferring I’m very aware of the characters I am portraying, what they mean to a audience, and that my first goal is social change. If actors are not striving to open up public conversation in topics through story that may make some uncomfortable…Then what is the point of being an actor? Without social progressive and giving voices to people that have none, and being a vessel for storytelling, then actors are diminished to little aesthetic play things for everyone else in the theatre/film community. I am no one’s play thing.
Writers, directors, visual artists, all have the power and I would stress the LUXURY to be able to forget about all issues and just focus on THEIR story. Not actors. We represent the people and it is our duty to pose difficult questions. A writer may create a question but it is the ACTOR that brings it to life and makes the audience want to listen to the words in the first place. When an audience sits in a theatre, cinema or stage, they only stay because they find the acting compelling. Everyone is drawn to the simple communication and active conflict between actors. They don’t stay in their seat thinking about the magic of lighting, sound, or the writing.
Actors are by far the biggest drawn to a film. With that power an actor must make responsible choices.
I’m not interested in empty blockbusters with even emptier eyed female accessories. For too long the constrictive patriarchal nature of our society has been seeping into cinema and furthering the negative and entirely one viewed perception of what it means to be female. The female actor is currently the most under appreciated and socially constructed element in entertainment.
I am interested in the messy areas of human life. I am drawn to female characters that are complex, strong, but ultimately human and entirely woman.
